Maezawa Magariya Shuraku

Come into contact with the wisdom of the snow country where houses and stables are one in a secluded community

It is said by the local people that Maezawa Magariya Shuraku is a community opened by Aizu warriors in the Middle Ages. It has also been selected as an important traditional architectures preservation district of Japan. The community suffered a large fire that destroyed all its homes in 1970. They were then rebuilt simultaneously by the same group of carpenters. This gave birth to a unified landscape. The magariya (bent houses) are dwellings bent into a L-shape as their name implies. The cows and horses indispensable for life (farming and transportation) lived in the protruding part of the homes at the front. The back of the buildings where were the farm horses that were once cherished like a member of the family and people lived in the same place as a living space.There are 19 traditional houses, including 13 magariya, in the community. It still now preserves an original landscape of Japan. Even today, this is a place where local people actually live. Therefore, you cannot enter the premises or dwellings. Please visit quietly while observing your manners.The community is home to the Maezawa Shuraku Museum facility where an actual magariya is used to be able to experience the old life of a farmer by entering inside, a soba noodle restaurant and an old private home cafe.